Killing Helen

by Sarah Challis

Starting an affair with Robert is easy. Bored with the awkward, boorish single men of her own age and flattered by the confident attentions of a handsome stranger, Harriet is excited by the idea of a lustful friendship, as Robert chooses to describe it. A commitment-free fling is ideal, and the existence of a wife is a minor inconvenience. But then Harriet finds out about his other mistress...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Adult, Audiobook

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2001

About the author

Sarah Challis, whose father is the distinguished cinematographer, Christopher Challis, travelled widely with film units as a child. She has since lived in Scotland and California but is now happily settled in a Dorset village with three rescued dogs and three chickens. She is married with four sons.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/s...

Reviews

[Plum-crazy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harriet knows from the start that Robert will not leave his wife for her....however when she discovers he has another mistress, that is something she won't stand for. "I had assumed he would be different with me, that I was in some way special & more deserving than the other women in his life" Ha...dream on girl!

From the outset I knew this would be a book I'd love as there was a sense of humour to the writing that really appealed to me. It was this sentence from the second page that did it, Harriet is talking about pushing her lover's mistress from the top of a tower...quote:

"She would sail through the air, her mouth open in surprise, her beautiful & thoughtful clothes filled with rushing air, her expensive London haircut of no help to her now in her headlong fall to the ground below"

It made smile anyway :o)

The characters were well-written & Harriet such a likeable person I just wanted her to come to her senses & see Robert for what he was - a smarmy git IMHO. He really knew how to get under his womens skin with his sly little digs about their appearances. It's a very absorbing story & a couple of nice twists at the end finish everything off beautifully. Loved it.

[Elly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prolly one of the strangest books I have ever read. It wasn't anything like I expected it to be and was quite confusing. But I liked the surprises I got along the way though the characters are stiff and I could care less about the main character.

[Alana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book at all, from the first couple of pages it seemed as though it would be a very interesting crime novel. However, it was not! It was completely boring, the affair between Harriet and Robert was awful. The characters were boring and Helen barely existed in the book. The attempted murder by the other mistress was the only interesting thing to occur and even then that story line turned out rubbish and was way too far in.

[Vickie Taylor-Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange sort of book in that it wasn’t a crime thriller and there wasn’t a huge amount of action but actually I really liked it. The style of writing was engaging and made some observations that I found myself agreeing with (women’s weight issues and motherhood). The only negative is I couldn’t really see why they were so fixated on Robert but then maybe that was the point, they were all overcome with this irrational madness?

[Meg Ainsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did quite like this book but found some of the characters actually insufferable.

Robert was an actual disgusting pig, and I'm still baffled as to why a 32 year old would entertain him.

I thoroughly enjoyed it though, but I do feel like some of the book is quite old fashioned in terms of views.

Perfect for a cozy read.

P.S the bit about alice at the end actually made me shiver.

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this unsual story about Harriet, a 30 year old music teacher who has an affair with an older married man. She finds out that he is having an affair with an old flame, so while she gets along with her normal life she has this fixation that she wants to kill Helen. Harriet moves from London to a farm in Somerset and meets a group of interesting people. Towards the end of the book Harriet is attacked and thinks she knows who her attacker is and is surprised when it wasn't who she thought it would be. Quite a well told entertaining story - it was a delight to listen to it.

[Jirinka (sony08) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, easy read. Book is about THE OTHER mistress and how one woman gets involved in a relationship with a married man only to find out she is not the only mistress on the go. Moving to a small Somerset village opens her eyes to the situation and even though it's hard to realise she has to give the man up, she finds out that's the only way forward...

[comfort · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful story of love and infidelity. A pleasure to listen to.

All is not what it seems in Harriet's life. The lives of the Helen of the title and the Robert the lover are mainly "seen" through Harriets eyes. She has a vast imagination and when Robert is not with her or can't be gotten hold of, he is of course with the Other Mistress, Helen. Or is he?

[Christina Rochester · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is brilliant. The first sentence just grips the reader and it rolls from there. I hated Robert's character and his detachment with him striking me as a smarmy git. The Alice twist however was perfect and beautiful.

[Charlie Trafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! A woman starts an affair with a married man, and happily accepts the presence of his wife.. but on learning he has another mistress.. finds her emotions erupt into feelings of hatred and jealousy.. Funny
and comical but with an underlying obsessive revenge.

[Lesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn’t like this

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chic Lit. But readable chic. lit.

[Linz aka Mlbp · Rating 2 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10541913

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I had absolutely no idea how it was going to end and that is the joy of it.

[Shelley Boothman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Gripping from the get go. Believable characters. Highly relatable.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story, well written. I really enjoyed it.